Disk apparatus

ABSTRACT

Provided are a tray  2  for mounting a cartridge  101  that houses a disk and has an aperture for exposing an information layer and a shutter  101   a  for opening/closing the aperture, a conveyor for conveying the tray  2 , an opener  13  having an engaging member and opening/closing the shutter  101   a , and guiding members  14, 15, 16  arranged to engage with the opener  13  and interlocked with a conveyance operation of the tray  2  so that engagement position with an engaging member of the opener  13  changes, wherein the guiding members  14, 15, 16  are arranged opposing the face for mounting the cartridge  101 . Thereby, there is no need for providing to the upper part of the cartridge  101  a system for opening/closing the shutter  101   a , and thus a space below the tray  2  can be used effectively, resulting in downsizing of the apparatus.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a disk apparatus for performingrecording and reproduction of information by using a disk as aninformation recording medium for pictures, music, and computer data.Specifically, the present invention relates to a system for loading adisk.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Recently, large-capacity optical disks such as DVD-ROM have been usedwidely as storage means for massive amount of information of computersor the like. Similarly, attention has been focused on DVD-RAM thatenables free rewriting of recorded information and recording massiveamount of information. As a consequence, the development of diskapparatuses for DVD-RAM has proceeded. Generally, a rewritable opticaldisk such as DVD-RAM is handled in a state of being housed in acartridge for securing the reliability.

In this situation, recently-developed disk apparatuses can accept bothbare disks with exposed recording-reproducing face and a cartridgehousing a disk, and also can perform recording and reproduction thereof.

However, an apparatus capable of accepting a cartridge has a system forloading a cartridge larger than a bare disk in the outer diameter, andthe loading system would be upsized in comparison with a system forloading a bare disk exclusively, thereby causing increased cost.

For avoiding the above-described problems, an object of the presentinvention is to miniaturize a loading system so as to downsize a diskapparatus.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

For achieving the above-mentioned object, a first disk apparatusaccording to the present invention has a tray for mounting a cartridgethat houses a disk having an information layer and has an aperture forexposing the information layer and a shutter for opening/closing theaperture, a conveyor for conveying the tray, and an opener interlockedwith the conveyance operation of the tray so as to open/close theshutter;

the opener includes an opener engaging portion for engaging with aguiding member that guides the opening/closing operations of theshutter; and

the guiding member is arranged opposing the face on which the cartridgeis mounted.

Next, a second disk apparatus according to the present invention has atray for mounting a cartridge that houses a disk having an informationlayer and has an aperture for exposing the information layer and ashutter for opening/closing the aperture, an opener for opening/closingthe shutter and an opener holder for holding the shutter that has beenopened by the opener;

the opener and the opener holder are attached to the tray, and a forceto hold the opened shutter is applied exclusively by the tray, theopener and the opener holder.

Next, a third disk apparatus according to the present invention has atray for mounting a cartridge that houses a disk having an informationlayer and has an aperture for exposing the information layer and ashutter for opening/closing the aperture, and a conveyor for conveyingthe tray, an opener that engages with the shutter and opens/closes theshutter in a substantially cross direction with respect to theconveyance direction of the conveyor, a plurality of guiding membersarranged independently, and an engaging member formed in the opener soas to engage with the guiding members;

the plural guiding members are arranged so that, with the conveyance ofthe tray, at least one of the engaging members moves following theguiding members while the opener moves in a substantially crossdirection with respect to the conveyance direction; andas the conveyance proceeds, at least one of the engaging membersengaging with the guiding members is disengaged and engages with aseparate guiding member, and moves following the separate guidingmember, while the opener continues to move in a substantially crossdirection with respect to the conveyance direction.

Next, a fourth disk apparatus according to the present invention has atray for mounting a disk having an information layer, a damper forinterposing and holding the disk between itself and a motor, a damperholder for engaging with and holding the clamper, a top plate that isarranged separately from the tray and has a sliding portion on which thedamper holder slides, and a conveyor for conveying the tray;

the damper is attached to a hole-formed part of the top plate, and thedamper holder has a part at which the thickness changes;

engagement of the damper holder and the damper is provided at the partwith changed thickness of the damper holder, and the damper holder isinterlocked with the conveyance operation of the tray and displaces thevertical position of the damper while moving on the sliding portion.

Next, a fifth disk apparatus according to the present invention has atray for mounting a hole-formed cartridge that houses a disk having aninformation layer, a motor for rotating the disk, and a base having afirst projection and the motor mounted thereon;

the tray has a second projection for engaging in the hole of thecartridge and a hole for engaging with the first projection of the base;

at a loading position for loading the disk on the motor, the firstprojection of the base engages in the hole of the tray so that the trayis positioned on the base; and

when mounting the cartridge on the tray, the second projection of thetray engages in the hole of the cartridge so that the cartridge ispositioned on the tray. According to the disk apparatus, the thicknessof the loading system can be decreased so as to downsize the apparatus.

Next, a sixth disk apparatus according to the present invention has atray for mounting a disk having an information layer; a conveyor forconveying the tray; a base on which a motor for rotating the disk ismounted; and a part-to-be-engaged which the tray in conveyance slides onand engages; a box for containing the tray, the conveyor and the base;and a pressing member for pressing the tray onto the base; the base isattached to the box via a damper; and at a position for loading the diskon the motor, a tray is pressed by the pressing member onto the base andseparated from the part-to-be-engaged.

Next, a seventh disk apparatus according to the present invention has atray for mounting a disk having an information layer, and a positioncontroller for controlling the position of the disk;

the position controller has a wall face for controlling the position ofthe disk in the main face direction, a rotation axis arranged at aposition indented from the main face of the tray and extending in asubstantially radial direction of the disk mounted on the tray, aplurality of elements connected via the rotation axis, and a biasingmember for applying a force in a direction for floating the disk fromthe tray main face;furthermore, the position controller has an extending portion, theextending portion extends toward the center of the disk mounted on thetray main face with respect to the wall face, and the extending portionoverlaps a part of the main face in a state in which the disk is incontact with the wall face.

Next, an eighth disk apparatus according to the present invention has atray for mounting several kinds of disks having information layers andbeing different from each other in the outer diameter, and a positioncontroller for controlling the positions of the disks;

the position controller has a first wall face for controlling theposition of the first disk in the main face direction, a rotation axisthat is arranged at a position indented from the main face of the trayand extends in the substantially radial direction of the first diskmounted on the tray, a plurality of elements connected via the rotationaxis, and a biasing member for applying a force in a direction to floatthe first disk from the tray main face;the tray has a second wall face for controlling the position in the mainface direction of a second disk that is smaller than the first disk inthe outer diameter; andthe position controller extends toward the center of the second diskmounted on the tray main face with respect to the second wall face, anda part of the position controller and a part of the main face of thesecond disk overlap each other in a state in which the second disk is incontact with the second wall face.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a loading device according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a mechanical base according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3A is a perspective view showing one example of a bare disk.

FIG. 3B is a perspective view showing one example of a cartridge withits shutter in a closed state.

FIG. 3C is a perspective view showing one example of a cartridge withits shutter in an open state.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a tray according to one embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a tray according to one embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a tray according to one embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 7A is a cross-sectional view showing a mount state of a bare diskaccording to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7B is a cross-sectional view showing a mount state of a bare diskaccording to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7C is a cross-sectional view showing a mount state of a cartridge.

FIG. 8A us a perspective view of a tray in a vertically-placed stateaccording to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8B is a perspective view showing displacement of a bare disk in avertically-placed tray according to one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 8C is a perspective view showing correction of a bare disk in avertically-placed tray according to one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 9A is an enlarged view of a main part in a horizontally-placed trayaccording to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9B is an enlarged view of a main part in a vertically-placed trayaccording to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10A is a view for explaining operations of a correction leveraccording to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10B is a view showing a correction lever at a loading positionaccording to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a view for explaining states of a bare disk before and aftercorrection according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a view showing a state of a correction lever at the time ofmounting cartridge according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13A is a perspective view of an opener according to one embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 13B is a perspective view of a main part of a tray with itscartridge shutter in an open state according to one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 13C is a perspective view of a main part of a tray with itscartridge shutter in a dosed state according to one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 14A is a view showing a position of an opener in an eject stateaccording to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14B is a view showing a position of an opener in a tray conveyancestate according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15A is a view showing that an axis 13 disengaged from a cam in atray conveyance state according to one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 15B is a view showing that the axis 13 e engages with another camin a tray conveying state according to one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 16A is an exploded perspective view of a clamper lifting systemaccording to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16B is a cross-sectional view of a damper in a raised stateaccording to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16C is a cross-sectional view of a camper in a lowered stateaccording to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17A is a view showing a relationship between a slider and a trayprojection according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17B is a view showing a relationship between a slider and a trayprojection in another state according to one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 18 is a perspective view of a loading device in which a damper anda thick part of a slider engage with each other according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a perspective view in which a damper and a thick part of aslider are disengaged according to one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 20 is a general perspective view of a loading device according toanother embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is an exploded perspective view showing a relationship between acartridge and a loading device according to another embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 22 is a view for explaining a comparison between a positioningoperation of a loading device according to one embodiment of the presentinvention and a positioning operation of a loading device according to aconventional example.

FIG. 23A is a perspective view of a switching portion in a trayconveyance according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 23B is a perspective view of a switching member at a loadingposition according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 24 is a perspective view of a tray according to another embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 25 is a perspective view of a small diameter bare disk in avertically-placed state according to one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 26A is a cross-sectional view showing that a tray is housed in amechanical base, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 26B is a cross-sectional view showing that position correction of abare disk has been completed, according to one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 26C is a cross-sectional view showing that a bare disk is in aloading state, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 27 is a cross-sectional view of a mechanical base according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 28 is a cross-sectional view of a correction lever according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 29A is a cross-sectional view showing a pressing system beforecompletion of loading according to one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 29B is a view showing the tray being pressed in the state of FIG.29A.

FIG. 30A is a perspective view showing a pressing system aftercompletion of loading according to one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 30B is a view showing the tray being pressed in the state of FIG.30A.

FIG. 31 is a view for explaining comparison between shock absorption ofa loading device according to one embodiment of the present inventionand shock absorption of a loading device according to a comparativeexample.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

According to the first disk apparatus of the present invention, there isno need for providing a system for opening/closing a shutter on theupper part of the cartridge, and thus a space below the tray can be usedeffectively so as to downsize the apparatus.

It is preferable that the first disk apparatus further has an openerholder for holding the shutter that has been opened by the opener, theopener and the opener holder are attached to the tray, the opener holderholds the shutter in an open state when the tray is conveyed to apredetermined position, and the guiding member is arranged so that theopener holder is disengaged from the guiding member after the openerholder holds the shutter. According to this disk apparatus, it ispossible to reduce the length of the guiding member and also suppressabrasion of the engaging member of the opener. In addition, applicationof a force from outside the tray can be prevented.

It is also preferable that an opener holder for holding the shutter thathas been opened by the opener is provided as well, wherein the openerand the opener holder are attached to the tray, and the opener holderholds the shutter in an open state when the tray is conveyed to apredetermined position; the guiding members are arranged so that theopener engaging portion is disengaged from the guiding members after theopener holder holds the shutter; and a force to hold the open shutter isapplied exclusively by the tray, the opener and the opener holder.According to this disk apparatus, it is possible to reduce the length ofthe guiding members and suppress the abrasion of the engaging member ofthe opener, and prevent application of a force from outside the tray.Furthermore, since no force to hinder the positioning of the tray willbe applied, the tray can be positioned easily and accurately.

According to the second disk apparatus, no force to hinder positioningof the tray will be applied, and thus the tray can be positioned easilyand accurately.

In the second disk apparatus, it is preferable that the opener has anengaging member, and further a guiding member is arranged so as toengage with the engaging member of the opener, and the guiding member isinterlocked with the conveyance operation of the tray so that theposition for engaging with the opener will change; the opener holderholds the shutter in an open state when the tray is conveyed to apredetermined position; and the guiding member is arranged so that theengaging member of the opener will be disengaged from the guiding memberafter the opener holder holds the shutter. According to this diskapparatus, it is possible to reduce the length of the guiding membersand suppress the abrasion of the engaging member of the opener, and thusapplication of a force from outside the tray can be prevented.

According to the third disk apparatus of the present invention, sinceopening/dosing and movement of the opener is shared by a combination ofa plurality of guiding members and engaging members, plural guidingmembers can be dispersed, and thus the space can be used effectively.Therefore, the guiding members can be provided opposite to thetray-mounting face, resulting in downsizing of the apparatus.

It is preferable that the third disk apparatus has also an opener holderfor holding the shutter that has been opened by the opener, the openerand the opener holder are attached to the tray, and the opener holderholds the shutter in an open state when the tray is conveyed to apredetermined position, and the guiding member is arranged so that theengaging members of the opener are disengaged from the guiding membersafter the opener holder holds the shutter. According to this diskapparatus, it is possible to reduce the length of the guiding membersand suppress the abrasion of the engaging member of the opener, and thusapplication of a force from outside the tray can be prevented.

According to the fourth disk apparatus of the present invention,switching of the vertical position of the damper is available in asimple structure by using the tray conveyance operation.

It is preferable in the fourth disk apparatus that the top plate has apressing lever for pressing the tray, and the damper holder has anengaging portion for engaging with the pressing lever; the pressing ofthe pressing lever on the tray is switched on and off corresponding tothe engaging and disengaging between the engaging portion and thepressing lever, and the switching of the engagement corresponds to thechange in the position of the damper holder caused by the movement ofthe sliding portion.

It is also preferable that the tray is capable of mounting the cartridgethat houses a disk having an information layer, the pressing lever hasfurther a cartridge pressing portion, and in a state of mounting thecartridge on the tray, the cartridge pressing member presses thecartridge in a state in which the pressing lever presses the tray.

It is also preferable that the tray is capable of mounting a cartridgethat houses a disk having an information layer and has an aperture forexposing the information layer and a shutter for opening/closing theaperture; the sliding portion is displaced toward the tray with respectto the main face of the top plate so that the sliding portion isarranged within the aperture while the shutter is in an open state.According to the disk apparatus, the space in the aperture of thecartridge can be used efficiently, and thus the apparatus can bedownsized.

According to the fifth disk apparatus of the present invention, thethickness of the loading system can be decreased, thereby downsizing theapparatus.

According to the sixth disk apparatus of the present invention, sinceexternal shock can be damped within the box, a separate buffer space onthe periphery of the box can be omitted, and thus the apparatus can bedownsized.

It is preferable that the sixth disk apparatus has a first convex on thetray at the side for engaging with the part-to-be-engaged, and theconvex is elevated with respect to the standard face of the tray, and afirst recess indented with respect to the standard face of the tray; thepart-to-be-engaged has a second convex elevated with respect to thestandard face of the part-to-be-engaged and a second recess indentedwith respect to the standard face of the part-to-be-engaged; during theconveyance of the tray, the first convex of the tray and the standardface of the part-to-be-engaged will slide and engage with each other,and the standard face of the tray and the first convex of thepart-to-be-engaged will slide and engage with each other; and at theloading position, the first convex of the tray and the second recess ofthe part-to-be-engaged correspond to each other, and the first recess ofthe tray and the second convex of the part-to-be-engaged correspond toeach other, so that the tray is separated from the part-to-be-engaged.

Furthermore, it is preferable that the tray is capable of mounting acartridge that houses a disk having an information layer and has anaperture for exposing the information layer and a shutter foropening/dosing the aperture; it has also an opener that engages with theshutter and opens/closes the shutter in a substantially cross directionwith respect to the conveyance direction of the conveyor, a guidingmember arranged to engage with the engaging member of the opener andinterlocked with the conveyance operation of the tray so that theposition for engagement with the opener will change, and an openerholder for holding the shutter that has been opened by the opener; theopener and the opener holder are attached to the tray, and the openerholder holds the shutter in an open state when the tray is conveyed to apredetermined position; and the guiding members are arranged so that theengaging members of the opener are disengaged from the guiding membersafter the opener holder holds the shutter. According to this diskapparatus, it is possible to reduce the length of the guiding membersand suppress the abrasion of the engaging member of the opener, and thusapplication of a force from outside the tray can be prevented.

Furthermore, it is preferable that the tray is capable of mounting ahole-formed cartridge housing a disk having an information layer; thetray has a second projection for engaging in the hole of the cartridgeand a hole for engaging with the first projection of the base; and at aloading position for loading the disk on the motor, the first projectionof the base engages in the hole of the tray so that the tray ispositioned on the base; when the cartridge is mounted on the tray, thesecond projection of the tray engages in the hole of the cartridge sothat the cartridge is positioned on the tray. According to the diskapparatus, the thickness of the loading system can be decreased so as todownsize the apparatus.

The seventh disk apparatus of the present invention can be downsizedsince the position controller does not protrude to the lower part of thetray. Moreover, since the position controller has an extending portion,the apparatus can correspond to vertical placement of disks.

In the seventh disk apparatus, it is preferable that, in a case ofmounting the disk horizontally on the tray, the position controller isallowed to be set so that the position of the side face of the extendingportion and the position of the peripheral face of the disk matchsubstantially with each other in the vertical direction, the side faceof the extending portion is positioned to control the position of thedisk in the main face direction; and in a state in which the positioncontroller is displaced in a direction for floating from the tray mainface by a force applied by a biasing member, the wall face is positionedfor controlling the position of the disk in the main face direction.According to this disk apparatus, it is possible, in a case of placing adisk horizontally, to prevent the disk from slipping below the extendingportion and making it difficult to take the disk out.

Furthermore, it is preferable that a correction lever for correcting theposition of the disk is provided further, the correction lever isinterlocked with the conveyance operation of the tray and protrudestoward the main face of the tray, and it corrects the position of thedisk in the plan direction of the tray main face while being in contactwith the peripheral face of the disk; and in a case of mounting on thetray a cartridge housing a disk, the protrusion of the correction levertoward the tray main face will stop. According to this disk apparatus,centering of the disk to the motor can be carried out easily andaccurately. Moreover, this configuration is useful in preventing thecartridge from being pushed out in a case of mounting the cartridge.

It is also preferable that, at a position to which the tray is locatedas a result of a conveyance of a certain distance, a projection to becontacted with the correction lever is provided, the correction lever isattached rotatably about the rotation axis, the correction lever isinterlocked with the conveyance operation of the tray and rotates whilesliding on the projection, the tip of the correction lever protrudestoward the tray main face; and in a case that the cartridge housing thedisk is mounted on the tray, the correction lever retracts to a positionnot to be in contact with the projection.

According to the eighth disk apparatus of the present invention, aplurality of kinds of bare disks different from each other in diametercan be placed vertically for recording and reproducing.

It is preferable in the eighth disk apparatus that, in a case ofmounting the second disk horizontally on the tray, the positioncontroller is allowed to be set so that the position of an internalcircumferential side face of the position controller matches with theperipheral face of the second disk in the vertical direction, and theinternal circumferential side face is positioned for controlling theposition of the second disk in the main face direction. According tothis disk apparatus, it is possible, in a case of placing a diskhorizontally, to prevent the disk from slipping below the extendingportion and making it difficult to take the disk out.

Moreover, it is preferable that the apparatus has a lifting member forengaging the plural kinds of disks and a turn table provided to a motorfor rotating the disks by a raising/lowering operation of a base onwhich the motor is mounted, and a correction lever for correcting theposition of the second disk; and the correction lever is interlockedwith at least one of the lifting operation and conveyance operation ofthe tray and corrects the position of the second disk in the plandirection of the tray main face while being in contact with theperipheral face of the second disk. According to this disk apparatus,centering of the disk to the motor can be carried out easily andaccurately.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention is described belowwith reference to the attached drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view ofa loading device in a disk apparatus according to one embodiment of thepresent invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a mechanical base ofthe loading device, from which a top plate 4 and a tray 2 shown in FIG.1 are detached.

FIGS. 3A–3C are perspective views of a disk. FIG. 3A is a perspectiveview of a bare disk in which a recording-reproducing face is exposed(hereinafter referred to as a ‘bare disk’). FIG. 3B is aperspective-view of a disk (hereinafter referred to as a ‘cartridge’)formed by housing a bare disk in a cartridge. The cartridge 101 has ashutter 101 a and a hole 101 c.

FIG. 3C is a perspective view of the cartridge 101 with the shutter 101a in an open state. Hereinafter, an expression of “disk” denotes both abare disk and a cartridge.

For the loading device shown in FIG. 1, the tray 2 is in an eject state,so that a disk can be mounted thereon. A general explanation about thestructures and operations of the respective portions of the loadingdevice will be followed by detailed explanation about each of theportions. In the loading device shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an electricsubstrate 11 is fixed on the bottom of the mechanical base 1 shaped as abox, and on the upper part, the top plate 4 is fixed. Between theelectric substrate 11 and the top plate 4, a lift base 3 provided with amotor 6 (FIG. 2) or the like for rotating the disk is set. As shown inFIG. 2, the lift base 3 is attached to the mechanical base 1 via adamper 5, and it can raise/lower to approach or leave the tray 2.

A clamper 10 functions to hold the disk on the motor 6. The damper 10can raise/lower by means of a slider 9, and it assumes the loweredposition for a rotation of the disk. As shown in FIG. 1, when the tray 2is in a state for enabling ejection of the disk, the damper 10 rises toa position not to be contacted with the disk.

A couple of bosses 2 a for positioning the cartridge are provided on thetray 2. By inserting the bosses 2 a into holes 101 c (FIG. 3B) of thecartridge 101, the cartridge 101 is positioned on the tray 2.

(First Embodiment)

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a tray 2 according to this embodiment.On the tray 2, disk guides 8 as a means for disk position controllersare attached. Two disk guides 8 are combined to form a set of diskguides, and a set of disk guides are arranged on each side of the tray2. In a state in which a bare disk 100 with a mountable maximum diameteris mounted on the tray 2, the bare disk 100 is mounted on four diskguides 8. The position of the bare disk 100 in the radial direction iscontrolled by sidewalls 8 b of the disk guides 8.

FIG. 7B shows a set of disk guides viewed from a side face direction (adirection identified with an arrow ‘A’ in FIG. 4). For clarification,the tray 2 is shown in the cross section in this figure and also inFIGS. 7A and 7C.

In FIG. 7B, a bare disk 100 is mounted on the disk guide 8. Morespecifically, the bare disk 100 is mounted on an intersection 8 e of aface 8 a and a face 8 c different from each other in the inclinationangle. The disk guide 8 can rotate about a rotation axis 21. Thelong-and-short-dashed line in FIG. 4 denotes a centerline of therotation axis 21. Each of the disk guides 8 is applied with a springpressure by a spring as a biasing member attached to the rotation axis21. This force is applied in the direction to separate each disk guide 8above from the main face of the tray 2. As a result, the bare disk 100mounted on the disk guide 8 is held in a state floating above the mainface of the tray 2.

The amount of upward displacement of the disk guide 8 can be set in twostages by a locking system. In this embodiment, the position can beswitched to a first position in which the disk guide 8 is locked by thelocking system and limited in its upward displacement (FIG. 7B) and asecond position in which the locking system is released to displace thedisk guide 8 further upward (FIG. 7A) in comparison with the firstposition.

The locking system is used, e.g., for fitting a recess of a disk guide 8with a convex of the tray 2. The locked condition can be released when auser releases the fitting. In this case, at the first position, therecess of the disk guide 8 is contacted with the convex of the tray sothat the rotation upward is restricted. When the user raises the diskguide 8 so that the recess of the disk guide 8 surmounts the convex ofthe tray, the locked condition is released, and thus the disk guide 8 isdisplaced to the second position.

At the first position as shown in FIG. 7B, tips of the bosses 2 a ofFIG. 4 are positioned below the lower face of the disk guide 8.Therefore, the bosses 2 a will not contact with a bare disk at the timeof mounting the bare disk on the tray 2, and thereby flaws on the baredisk 100 can be prevented.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a tray 2 on which a cartridge (notshown) is mounted. FIG. 7C shows a set of disk guides of FIG. 5 viewedfrom the side face direction. Because the weight of the cartridgeheavier than the bare disk, the disk guide 8 is displaced further belowin comparison with the state of FIG. 7B. As a result, the bosses 2 aprotrude from the aperture of the disk guide 8. Namely, by loading thecartridge, the bosses 2 a are inserted into the apertures 101 c of thecartridge (FIG. 3), thereby securing positioning of the cartridge.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the tray 2 in a state in which thelocking of the disk guide 8 is released. That is, the disk guide 8 inthis drawing is at the second position. When the disk guide 8 is at thefirst position, the tray 2 must be set in a transverse (horizontal)direction for mounting a disk. On the other hand, when the disk guide 8is at the second position, a bare disk can be mounted on the tray 2 setin a perpendicular (vertical) direction. FIGS. 8A–8C are perspectiveviews respectively showing the tray 2 set vertically.

FIG. 8A is a perspective view of a state not mounting a disk, while FIG.8B shows a state of mounting a bare disk 100 on the tray 2 that is setvertically. In the state of FIG. 8B, the bare disk 100 hangs under itsown weight, and it is held by disk guides 8 provided at two points onone side (2 points at the lower side).

FIG. 9 is referred to for specifically explaining this state. FIG. 9A isan exploded view of a main part in a state in which the tray 2 is sethorizontally. In this state, there are provided gaps ‘g’ between theperiphery of the bare disk 100 and sidewalls 8 f of the disk guides 8.

FIG. 9B is an exploded view of a main part in a state in which the tray2 is set vertically. When the bare disk 100 is mounted on thevertically-set tray 2, as described above, the bare disk 100 hangs underits own weight. As a result, the periphery of the bare disk 100 iscontacted with the sidewalls 8 f of the disk guides 8 so as to eliminatethe gaps between the periphery of the bare disk 100 and the sidewalls 8f of the disk guides 8.

In this case, side faces 8 b of protruding portions 8 d of the diskguides 8 extend inward (toward a center 100 a of the bare disk 100)further than the sidewalls 8 f. Therefore, the peripheral face of thebare disk 100 is mounted partially on the sidewalls 8 f, and the baredisk 100 is arranged so that the surface overlaps partially with theprotruding portions 8 d. That is, the protruding portions 8 d serve toprevent the bare disk 100 from falling over from its vertically-heldstate and disengaging from the tray 2.

As mentioned above, this embodiment contributes to downsizing of theapparatus since the disk guide 8 will not protrude at the lower part ofthe tray 2. Furthermore, by switching the position of the disk guides 8between the first position and the second position, the apparatus inthis embodiment can be applied to both the vertical and horizontalplacement of disks.

Here, in a case that the disk guide 8 is set at the first position forplacing the disk horizontally, as shown in FIG. 7B, the position of thesidewalls 8 b and the position of the peripheral face of the bare diskmatch substantially with each other. Thereby, the position of the baredisk in the main face direction will be restricted by the sidewalls 8 b.This configuration will not result in overlapping of a part of the mainface of the bare disk 100 and the protruding portions 8 d (FIG. 9B).Therefore, in a case of horizontally placing a bare disk, it is possibleto prevent the bare disk from slipping below the extending portion 8 dand becoming difficult to take out.

In this embodiment, the explanation refers to an example using a lockingmember to switch the first and second positions of the disk guides 8.The locking member can be omitted if any other configuration can beapplied for switching. For example, it is possible that the disk guides8 are at the second position when the disk guides 8 are unloaded, whilethe disk guides 8 are at the first position as shown in FIG. 7B underits own weight when the bare disk is placed horizontally. This settingis available by adjusting the spring pressure used for applying a forceto the disk guides 8.

(Second Embodiment)

Next description is provided about correction of position of the baredisk 100. In FIG. 8A, 2 e denotes a center of the disk mounting portionof the tray 2. The center 2 e will be positioned on the rotation axis ofthe motor 6 (FIG. 2) when the loading is completed. As mentioned above,in a case of setting the tray 2 vertically, the bare disk 100 will hangunder its own weight. In the example of FIG. 8B, the center 100 a of thebare disk 100 hangs by Δh in comparison with the center 2 e of the tray.

Centering of the bare disk 100 to the motor 6 will be difficult if theloading is completed in a state in which the center 100 a is displacedby Δh. In this embodiment, a correction lever as a correcting means isprovided to correct the displacement amount Δh. In the state shown inFIG. 8C, the bare disk 100 is pushed up by a correction lever 12 in adirection identified with an arrow ‘d’, and the center 100 a of the baredisk 100 approaches the center 2 e of the tray.

Operations of the correction lever 12 will be described specifically byreferring to FIGS. 10A and 10B. Each of FIGS. 10A and 10B is a side viewof a main part of the tray 2. For clarification, cross sections of thetray 2 are shown. FIG. 10A shows the tray 2 in loading, where the tray 2is shifting in the direction identified with an arrow ‘e’. This figureillustrates the correction lever 12 having a tip 12 a being contactedwith a projection 20. The correction lever 12 is attached at therotation axis 21 of the disk guide 8, and rotatable about the rotationaxis 21.

To the correction lever 12, a spring pressure for rotating the lever ina direction opposite to the direction identified with an arrow ‘f’ isapplied. Therefore, in a state before the tip 12 a of the correctionlever 12 is contacted with the projection 20 (i.e., an unloaded state),the correction lever 12 is contacted with the disk guide 8 at the rightside while being subject to the spring pressure.

The projection 20 is fixed onto the inner wall face 1 a (FIG. 2) of themechanical base 1. Therefore, when the tray 2 is shifting further in the‘e’ direction from the position of FIG. 10A, an inclined face 12 bslides on the projection 20, and the correction lever 12 rotates in the‘f’ direction while resisting the spring pressure applied to thecorrection lever 12.

FIG. 10B shows that the loading is completed. A flat face of theprojection 20 and a flat face 12 c of the correction lever 12 arecontacted with each other, and the protruding portion 12 d isperpendicular to the main face of the tray 2. FIG. 11 shows this fromthe surface of the bare disk 100. FIG. 11 corresponds to an explodedview of the part ‘B’ in FIG. 8C. An alternate long and two short dashesline indicates a bare disk 100 before the correction, and it correspondsto the state of FIG. 9B. The solid line indicates the bare disk 100after the correction.

The protruding portion 12 d of the correction lever 12 indicated withthe alternate long and two short dashes line are positioned on the backface of the bare disk 100, corresponding to the state of FIG. 10A. Asmentioned above, with the tray 2 shifting to the loading position, theprotruding portion 12 d of the correction lever 12 rotates in the ‘f’direction. Therefore, when an edge part 12 e of the protruding portion12 d slips below the peripheral face of the bare disk 100 (i.e.,squeezing into spacing between the peripheral face of the bare disk 100and the tray 2), the protruding portion 12 d raises the bare disk 100.In FIG. 11, the protruding portion 12 d raises the bare disk 100 by Δh,and the center 100 a of the bare disk 100 approaches the center 2 e ofthe tray.

Correction by means of the correction lever is required when mounting abare disk. However, in a case of mounting a cartridge, the cartridgewill be pushed out if the correction lever operates. For preventingthis, the operation of the correction lever must be stopped in a case ofmounting a cartridge.

FIG. 12 is a side view of a disk guide portion in a case of mounting acartridge. By mounting a cartridge, the disk guide 8 rotates about therotation axis 21 toward the tray 2.

As mentioned above, the correction lever 12 in an unloaded state is incontact with the right-hand disk guide 8 while being applied with aspring pressure. When the disk guide 8 rotates toward the tray 2 in thisstate, the correction lever 12 will rotate together. The correctionlever 12 stands horizontally in the state of FIG. 12. That is, since thecorrection lever 12 retracts toward the tray 2, the correction lever 12passes the projection 20 without contacting with the projection 20. As aresult, the correction operation by means of the correction lever 12 canbe stopped when mounting a cartridge, and thus the cartridge can beprevented from being pushed out of the tray 2. In a case of mounting acartridge, either the correction lever 12 or the projection 20 can beformed with an elastic material such as a plate spring for stoppingoperations of the correction lever 12. In this case, the elasticmaterial can be set to have a spring pressure for enabling correction ofthe bare disk and also bending of the elastic material at the time ofmounting the cartridge so as to prevent generation of a force that willpush the cartridge up.

The correction means is not limited to the above-described combinationof a correction lever and a projection, but it can be configured byproviding a protruding portion made of an elastic material such as aplate spring on the side face 1 a (FIG. 2) of the mechanical base 1. Inthis case, the protruding portion is positioned so that the protrudingportion and the bare disk peripheral face will engage with each otherwhen the tray 2 reaches the loading position. According to thisconfiguration, the protruding portion will press the peripheral face atthe loading position, thereby correcting the bare disk position.

Also in this case, the spring pressure of the elastic material isminimized as long as the bare disk position can be corrected, and whenmounting the cartridge, the protruding portion as the elastic materialis contacted with the cartridge at the loading position, so that theelastic material will be bent to retract toward the side face 1 a (FIG.2) of the mechanical base 1.

The above description for this embodiment relates to operations of thecorrection lever for a case of vertically placing the bare disk. Thecorrection lever will function similarly even for a case of horizontallyplacing the bare disk so as to work for correcting the position of thebare disk in the main face direction.

(Third Embodiment)

The following description is about opening/closing a shutter 101 a of acartridge 101, and a clamper 10 for clamping the disk 100 on the diskmotor 8.

As shown in FIG. 3B, a bare disk 100 is housed in the cartridge 101. Inan ordinary state, the shutter 101 a is biased by a spring so as to beclosed as shown in this figure, and thus the bare disk 100 is notexposed.

When the shutter 101 a in FIG. 3B slides in the ‘a’ direction, a part ofthe bare disk 100 is exposed as shown in FIG. 3C. In this state,information can be recorded on or reproduced from the bare disk 100.There is provided a space 101 b above the exposed part, and there is asimilar space below the exposed part. Though a head 7 (FIG. 2) isarranged at a position corresponding to the lower space in general,there is no specific structure in the upper space.

For opening/closing the shutter 101 a, an exclusive lever or cam isrequired. These elements are arranged in general on a top plate 4opposing the head 7 with respect to the cartridge 101. Since anexclusive space for arranging a lever or a cam must be provided to thespace above the cartridge 101 in this structure, the apparatus will beupsized.

In this embodiment, an opener as a means for opening/dosing the shutter101 a is provided on the tray 2, and an opening/closing system isprovided for the face opposing the top plate 4 with respect to thecartridge 101 (opposite to the mounting face of the tray 2). Specificexplanations will follow with reference to the attached drawings.

FIG. 13A is a perspective view of an opener 13 according to thisembodiment. FIG. 13A is sectioned partially for showing an axis 13 c.FIG. 13B is a perspective view showing the shutter 101 a in an openstate, and FIG. 13C is a perspective view showing the shutter 101 a in adosed state. FIGS. 14 and 15 are plan views for explaining operations ofthe opener according to this embodiment. FIGS. 14 and 15 illustrate mainparts of the mechanical base 1 and the tray 2 for the purpose ofexplaining the operations of the opener, and the tray 2 is shown in apartially-sectional view. Illustration of a cartridge is omitted forclarifying the members relating to explanation, and the opener 13 ispartially omitted as well from FIGS. 14 and 15.

Operations of the opener 13 are described below with reference to FIGS.13–15. FIG. 14A shows the tray 2 in an eject state. This statecorresponds to FIG. 13C. In this state, the axis 13 e as an engagingmember engages with the cam 14 so as to position the opener 13. The cam14 as a guiding member is formed with walls facing each other with apredetermined space. The cams 15 and 16 as guiding members are formedsimilarly. When the opener 13 is at the position shown in FIG. 14A, aside face 13 f of a convex 13 a of the opener 13 corresponds to a sideface 101 d (FIG. 3B) of a convex of the shutter 10 a, and thus thecartridge 101 can be loaded onto the tray 2.

When the tray 2 slides from this state in a loading direction (adirection identified with an arrow ‘d’), the axis 13 e moves along thewall face of the cam 14. Thereby, the opener 13 slides in a directionidentified with an arrow ‘e’ as the width direction of the apparatus,proceeding with the tray 2 in the ‘d’ direction. In this case, since theside face 13 f of the convex 13 a of the opener 13 and the side face 101d (FIG. 3B) of the convex of the shutter 101 a engage, the opener 13opens the shutter 101 a during its sliding in the ‘e’ direction.

Due to the sliding of the opener 13 in the ‘e’ direction, the axis 13 dthat is integrated with the opener 13 and an engaging means also slidesin the ‘e’ direction. FIGS. 14 and 15 respectively show the position ofthe opener 13, the position changing with the tray 2 shifting in the ‘d’direction. FIG. 14B shows the axis 13 d engaging with the cam 15.Subsequently therefore, as shown in FIG. 15A, the axis 13 e isdisengaged from the cam 14 and the axis 13 d moves along the wall faceof the cam 15, so that the opener 13 slides in the ‘e’ direction.

In the state of FIG. 15B, the axis 13 d is disengaged from the cam 15,and the axis 13 e is newly engaging with a cam 16. Thereby, in thesubsequent operations, the axis 13 e moves along the wall face of thecam 16, and thus the opener 13 will slide in the ‘e’ direction until theshutter 101 a is opened. As mentioned above, in this embodiment,respective axes of the opener 13 move along three cams that are arrangedindependently, and thus the opener 13 slides in a direction for openingthe shutter 101 a.

The cams might be formed in a continuous shape. However, since a liftbase 3 is set on the mechanical base 1, it will be difficult to secure aspace for setting one continuous cam without being interrupted by thelift base 3. For this reason, in a conventional structure, an exclusivespace is provided to the surface facing the top plate 4 so as to arrangea lever and a cam on the upper part of the cartridge 101.

In this embodiment, there are provided three cams that are independentlyarranged, and two axes that are engaged with these cams and integratedin an opener. When a tray is conveyed for a predetermined distance, anengagement of a cam and an axis is switched to another engagement ofother cam and the axis, and thus the opener slides while the tray isconveyed. That is, the opener slides as a result of work shared by acombination of plural cams and axes, so that a cam is provided onto themechanical base 1 so as to downsize the apparatus.

According to this configuration, when a set of cam and axis engage,axis/axes other than the engaging axis will not engage necessarily withcam(s), except for the time of switching the engagement as shown in FIG.14B. When the axis 13 e engages with the cam 14 as shown in FIG. 14A,the axis 13 d does not engage with a cam. Therefore, there is no needfor forming a cam at a part of the mechanical base 1 corresponding tothe axis 13 d. In other words, since there is no need for arranging onecam continuously according to this embodiment, spaces can be usedeffectively for any other objects (in this embodiment, for setting of agear 17), and also facilitating downsizing of the apparatus.

(Fourth Embodiment)

The opener 13 in FIG. 13B is in a state in which the shutter 101 a ofthe cartridge 101 is opened completely. In this state, as shown in thepartially enlarged view of FIG. 13B, a locking portion 13 g as an openerholder at the tip of a resin spring 13 b engages with a convex 2 f as anopener holder formed on the tray 2. Thereby, the opener 13 stops withoutsliding against a restoring force of the spring acting in a directionfor closing the shutter 101 a.

For engaging the locking portion 13 b with the convex 2 f the lockingportion 13 b must surmount the convex 2 f. In this engagement, duringconveyance of the tray 2, the projection 13 c (FIG. 13A) of the opener13 surmounts the projection 22 (FIG. 2) formed on the mechanical base 1,so that the resin spring 13 b bends upward and thus the locking portion13 b surmounts the convex 2 f.

Though the axis 13 e of the opener 13 engages with the cam 16 in thestate of FIG. 15B, in the state of FIG. 13B, the opener 13 stops in astate in which the shutter 101 a is open. Therefore, the axis 13 e ofthe opener 13 will not be required to engage with the cam 16 during thesubsequent conveyance of the tray 2. For this reason, there is no needto form the cam 16 after the locking portion 13 g engages with theconvex 13 f, so that formation of the cam 16 finishes at the end part 16a as shown in FIG. 2. In this manner, length of the cam 16 can bereduced, and abrasion of the axis 13 e of the opener 13 can besuppressed.

In this embodiment, the opener 13 is provided on the tray 2, while theopener 13 does not engage with the top plate 4. Furthermore, asmentioned above, since the cam 16 on the mechanical base 1 has noengagement with the axis 13 e of the opener 13 after the loading portion13 g engages with the convex 2 f, the opener 13 does not engage with themechanical base 1 as well.

Therefore, a force to stop the shutter 101 in an open state is appliedfrom the tray 2 itself including the opener 13, and the force is appliedexclusively by the tray 2 itself. Namely, an external force will notapplied by any other elements than the mechanical base 1 and the topplate 4.

On the other hand, for the above-mentioned configuration of arranging inan exclusive space provided on the top plate 4 a system for opening theshutter 101 a of a cam or a lever, the force to open the shutter 101 amay hinder positioning of the tray 2 on the lift base 3. As a result,the force applied to the tray 2 must be increased at the time ofpositioning of the tray 2 on the lift base 3, resulting in abrasion orincomplete positioning.

Since no force that will hinder positioning of the tray 2 on the liftbase 3 will be applied in this embodiment, positioning of the tray 2 onthe lift base 3 can be performed easily and accurately.

(Fifth Embodiment)

Next, raising/lowering of a damper will be described below withreference to the attached drawings. FIG. 16A is an exploded perspectiveview of a lifting system of a damper. FIGS. 16B and 16C arecross-sectional views for explaining a vertical displacement of thedamper 10. The damper 10, containing a magnet, can sandwich the baredisk 100 between the motor 6 and the damper 10 so as to fix the baredisk 100 to the motor 6. On the top plate 4, supporting portions 4 a and4 b for supporting the damper are formed.

A slider 9 as a damper holder can slide in the longitudinal direction(directions identified with arrows ‘f’ and ‘g’) on a recess 4 c as asliding face of the top plate 4. When the slider 9 moves in the ‘f’direction, the damper 10 is raised upward along the tapering portion 9b, and due to this movement, a thick part 9 c is inserted betweenflanges 10 a and 10 b. FIG. 16B is a cross-sectional view showing arelationship between the damper 10 and the supporting portions 4 a, 4 bin this state. In FIG. 16B, the lower faces of the supporting portions 4a, 4 b are in contact with the lower flange 10 b of the damper 10.

When the slider 9 moves in the ‘g’ direction, the thick part 9 c leavesthe space between the flanges 10 a and 10 b, while a thin part 9 a isinserted between the flanges 10 a and 10 b. FIG. 16C is across-sectional view showing a relationship between the damper 10 andthe supporting portions 4 a, 4 b. In FIG. 16C, the upper faces of thesupporting portions 4 a, 4 b are in contact with the upper flange 10 aof the damper 10. In this state, the damper 10 lowers the state in whichthe thick part 9 c is inserted. In comparison between the states shownin FIGS. 16B and 16C, the damper is positioned higher in FIG. 16B thanin FIG. 16C by Δh1. In this manner, due to the movement of the slider 10in the ‘f’ and ‘g’ directions, the damper 10 can be raised and lowered.

The slider 9 is interlocked with the conveyance operation of the tray 2so as to operate. Specific explanation about the operation follows. Inthe eject state shown in FIG. 1, the slider 9 moves fully in the ‘b’direction.

This state corresponds to that in FIG. 16B, and the damper 10 is pressedupward. In case the tray 2 reached the loading position while theshutter 101 a of the cartridge 101 mounted on the tray 2 was in a closedstate, the damper 10 would collide at the lower end against the shutter101 a. However, since the opener 13 slides as described above, theshutter 101 a opens to avoid collision with the damper 10 before theshutter 101 a reaches directly below the damper 10. Therefore, at theloading position, the lower end of the damper 10 will be positionedwithin the aperture 101 b of the cartridge 101.

In this embodiment, the damper 10 is arranged in the recess 4 c of thetop plate 4, and also a system such as a slider 9 is arranged toraise/lower the damper 10. In addition, the recess 4 c of the top plate4 is arranged within the aperture 101 b (FIG. 3C) of the cartridge 101.This system is useful in minimizing springing up of the elements fromthe upper surface of the top plate 4, and thus the apparatus can bedownsized.

When the tray 2 is conveyed in the ‘c’ direction, projections 2 h, 2 k(FIGS. 4 and 13) formed on the tray 2 reach the front of the protrudingportions 9 j, 9 k of the slider 9. FIG. 17A is a plan view of the slider9 in this state. Subsequently the tray 2 is conveyed in the ‘c’direction while the projections 2 h, 2 k are pressing the protrudingportions 9 j, 9 k of the slider 9. Thereby the slider 9 moves in the ‘h’direction, sliding on the recess 4 c of the top plate 4.

The slider 9 is made of a resin material. Its slender belts 9 g, 9 n, 9p can have a spring effect, and they can be bent in a directionidentified with an arrow ‘k’ as a flat face direction. Thereby, as theslider 9 moves further in the ‘h’ direction, protruding portions 9 d, 9m of the slider 9 are contacted respectively with the convexes 4 d, 4 eof the top plate 4, and thus the protruding portions 9 d, 9 m passthrough the convexes 4 d, 4 e while the slider 9 is being bent. Theconvexes 4 d, 4 e of the top plate 4 are formed, for example, bypress-molding integrally the top plate 4. Alternatively, the convexes 4d, 4 e can be formed by connecting separately. FIG. 18 is a generalperspective view of the loading device in a state in which the slider 9is bent, and a projection 2 g of the tray 2 is engaging in a spacebetween the protruding portion 9 h and the protruding portion 9 j.

FIG. 17B is a plan view showing that the protruding portions 9 d, 9 m ofthe slider 9 passing through the convexes 4 d, 4 e of the top plate 4.Since the projection 2 g of the tray 2 engages with the space betweenthe protruding portion 9 h and the protruding portion 9 j in this state,the slider 9 will continue to move in the ‘h’ direction due to theconveyance of the tray 2.

FIG. 19 is a general perspective view of a loading device in a state inwhich the tray 2 has been conveyed to the loading position. In thisstate, the clamper 10 is disengaged from the thick part 9 c of theslider 9 as a result of the movement of the slider 9. This statecorresponds to that in FIG. 16C, and the clamper 10 lowers so that thedisk 100 can be attached to the motor 6. The above-described operationsare reversible. The cartridge 101 can be ejected without interferingwith the other elements by operating the tray 2 in the ‘f’ direction.

(Sixth Embodiment)

A sixth embodiment relates to a separate sliding system of a clamper.FIG. 20 is a general perspective view of a loading device according tothe sixth embodiment. In this embodiment, the structure for sliding aslider 50 as a clamper holder in the longitudinal direction (directionsidentified with arrows ‘f’ and ‘g’) is simplified in comparison with thefifth embodiment. The sixth embodiment is similar to the fifthembodiment for the system of raising/lowering the clamper 10 byengagement and disengagement between the clamper 10 and the slider 50.

To the slider 50, a spring 51 as a stretching member is attached tostretch in the sliding direction of the slider 50 (directions identifiedwith arrows ‘f’ and ‘g’). The spring 51 is fixed at one end to theslider 50, and at the other end to a protrusion 52 formed integrally inthe top plate 4. A substantially L-shape bent-back part 50 a is formedon the slider 50. For corresponding to this bent-back part 50 a, aconvex 53 is formed integrally on the tray 2. The bent-back part 50 a isarranged behind the convex 53 (opposite to the entrance for the disk).

In the process of loading, when the tray 2 moves in the ‘g’ direction,the convex 53 integrated with the tray 2 presses the bent-back part 50a. Thereby, the slider 50 moves in the ‘g’ direction while the spring 51is under compression. As a result, the damper 10 is disengaged from theslider 50 and lowers to sandwich and attach the disk 100 onto the motor6.

When the tray 2 moves in the ‘f’ direction at the time of ejection, theconvex 53 cannot press the bent-back part 50 a. However, the slider 50moves in the ‘f’ direction due to a restoring force of the compressedspring 51. As a result of the movement of the slider 50 in the ‘f’direction, the slider 50 engages again with the damper 10, and thus thedamper 10 is separated from the disk. Although this embodiment requiresa separate spring 51, it enables simplifying the slider system of theslider 50 and also the operations, thereby stabilizing and securingraising/lowering of the clamper.

(Seventh Embodiment)

A seventh embodiment relates to positioning of a disk. The followingexplanation with reference to FIGS. 21–23 relates to a process in whicha tray 2 moves to a loading position and then the disk 100 is mounted onthe motor 6. FIG. 21 is a schematic perspective view showing arelationship between the mechanical base 1, a tray 2, and a cartridge101 at the loading position.

Approaching the loading position, the tray 2 is disengaged from drivingelements such as a gear. As a result, the tray 2 engages with a cam forsubstantially positioning the tray 2, and the lift base 3 begins torise. Since these operations are conventionally well known, explanationswith reference to drawings will be omitted.

In FIG. 21, the cartridge 101 and the tray 2 are illustrated separately.At the loading position, the bosses 2 a of the tray 2 are inserted intothe holes 101 c of the cartridge 101, and thus the cartridge 101 ispositioned on the tray 2. In addition, by inserting the boss 3 a of thelift base 3 into the hole 2 b formed on the tray 2, the tray 2 ispositioned on the lift base 3. As a result, the cartridge 101 ispositioned on the lift base 3, and thus the center 100 a of the baredisk 100, the center 2 e of the tray 2, and the rotation center of themotor 6 match each other.

As shown in FIG. 21, a switch 17 and a lever 18 connected to the switch17 are attached to the mechanical base 1. A notch 20 is formed in thefront of the tray 2. At the loading position, the lever 18 is positionedcorresponding to the position of the notch 21.

The positioning operations are specified below by referring to FIG. 22for comparison with a comparative example. FIGS. 22A–22C showpositioning operations of an apparatus according to the comparativeexample. FIGS. 22D–22F show positioning operations of an apparatusaccording to the present invention. FIG. 22A shows the tray 30 ispositioned in front of the loading position but fully separated from theloading position. For the comparative example shown in the drawings, aswitch 33 and a boss 31 a are arranged on the lift base 31 with a motor32 mounted thereon. In FIG. 22A, the lift base 31 lowers. When the tray30 proceeds in the direction identified with an arrow and reaches thevicinity of the loading position, the lift base 31 will rise.

In FIG. 22B, the tray 30 has proceeded to some degree. In FIG. 22C, thetray 30 reaches the loading position. In FIG. 22C, the lift base 31rises, the boss 31 a passes through the hole 30 a of the tray 30 so asto be inserted into the hole of the cartridge 101. In FIG. 22C, thecartridge 101 is positioned on the lift base 30 and a tip of the switch33 engages with the recess of the cartridge 101, thereby allowing thedetermination of the kind of the cartridge 101 by detecting thedisplacement amount of the tip of the switch 33.

In FIG. 22D according to the present invention, the tray 2 is positionedin front of the loading position, though fully separated. The basicstructure is as described in FIG. 21. In FIG. 22D, the lever 18 ispressed by the tray 2. FIG. 23A is an exploded view for showing thisstate, and it corresponds to an exploded view of the part ‘B’ in FIG.21. The lever 18 is pressed by the tray 2, lowering rotationally aboutthe rotation axis 19 and embedded on the bottom face of the mechanicalbase 1. The rotation axis 19 is illustrated visually for the sake ofclarity.

In FIG. 22E, the tray 2 proceeds further. In this state, the lever 18 isprovided for the notch 20 (see FIG. 21) of the tray 2. Since thepressure on the lever 18 is released, the lever 18 rises to a positioncorresponding to the recess on the cartridge 101. In this case, the kindof the cartridge 101 can be discriminated by detecting the displacementamount of the lever 18.

In FIG. 22F, the tray 2 reaches the loading position. At the loadingposition, the boss 2 a of the tray 2 is inserted into the hole 101 c ofthe cartridge 101 (FIG. 3), thereby providing a first positioning forthe cartridge 101 on the tray 2. Similarly, a second positioning for thetray 2 on the lift base 3 is provided by inserting the boss 3 a of thelift base 3 into the hole 2 b formed on the tray 2. As a result of thistwo-step positioning, the cartridge 101 is positioned on the lift base3, and thus the center 100 a of the bare disk 100, the center 2 e of thetray 2, and the rotation center of the motor 6 match each other.

This embodiment aims to decease thickness of the loading system by thistwo-step positioning. In this embodiment, the boss 3 a of the lift base3 is used not for positioning directly with the hole of the cartridge101 but for positioning with the tray 2. Therefore, the boss 31 a of thelift base 3 can be positioned more backward (rear) in comparison withthe configuration of the comparative example, i.e., the boss 31 a of thelift base 31 is positioned directly with the hole of the cartridge 101.Furthermore, the switching system according to the embodiment is notmounted on the lift base 3 but loaded on the mechanical base 1.

Thereby, the position of the positioning boss 3 a can be set at the endof the lift base 3. As a result, the whole length of the lift base 31according to this embodiment can be set shorter than that inconventional techniques. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 22B, the thickness ofthe loading system can be decreased by the height ‘h’ even if therotation angle for raising the lift base 3 is the same as that in thecomparative example.

(Eighth Embodiment)

An eighth embodiment relates to an apparatus that can record andreproduce plural kinds of bare disks different from each other in theouter diameter. While the first embodiment refers to a configuration forvertically placing bare disks, the eighth embodiment relates to aconfiguration for vertically placing bare disks smaller in diameter.This embodiment is same as the first embodiment for the raising/loweringof the lift base and of the damper. Therefore, components common tothose in the first embodiment are numbered identically, and the detailedexplanation will be omitted.

FIG. 24 is a perspective view of a tray 60 according to this embodiment.In this perspective view, a bare disk is not mounted. Disk guides asdisk position controllers are attached to the tray 60. One disk guide iscomposed of a pair of disk guides. A set of disk guides 61 is arrangedon each side face of the tray 60.

As mentioned below, the disk guide 61 is shaped for vertically placing abare disk with a small diameter, while its basic system and operationsarea similar to those of the disk guide 8 described in the previousembodiment.

The tray 60 shown in the drawing can be used to mount a large bare diske.g., 120 mm in diameter, and also a small bare disk that is e.g., 80 mmin diameter. It has a wall face 61 a with which a peripheral face of alarge bare disk will be contacted when vertically placing the tray 60.It has also a wall face 62 with which a peripheral face of a small baredisk will be contacted, and which is formed by stepping the main surfaceof the tray 60.

FIG. 25 is a perspective view in which a small bare disk 102 is placedvertically. In this drawing, the peripheral face of the bare disk 102 iscontacted with the wall face 62 due to its own weight. An internalcircumferential side face 61 b of the bare disk 102 extends inwards incomparison with the wall face 62 (toward the center of the bare disk102). Therefore, a part of the surface of the bare disk 102 is mountedon the wall face 62, and a part of the peripheral face of the bare disk102 overlaps with the disk guide 61. This configuration serves toprevent the bare disk 102 from failing to keep its vertically-held stateand disengaging from the tray 60. As shown in FIG. 25, the loadingproceeds in a state in which the bare disk 102 is mounted, and thus thetray 60 moves toward the mechanical base (FIG. 1).

Hereinafter, FIGS. 26A–26C are referred to for explanation about theoperations of the tray 60 subsequent to its move to the interior of themechanical base. FIG. 26A is a cross-sectional view showing the tray 60housed in the mechanical base. With the proceeding of the tray 60 withinthe mechanical base 60, the lift base 3 is displaced toward the baredisk 102. In FIG. 26A, a center cone 6 b of the motor 6 is disposedadjacent to the bare disk 102.

The positional relationship between the tray 60 and the bare disk 102 inFIG. 26A is same as that in FIG. 25. Apart of the peripheral face of thebare disk 102 is mounted on the wall face 62. Since a part of thesurface of the bare disk 102 is overlaps with the disk guide 61 in thisstate, the bare disk 102 will be mounted on the tray 60 without anysubstantial risk of falling. Furthermore, since the bare disk 102 ismounted on the wall face 62 while being applied with its own weight, thecenter axis 102 b of the bare disk 102 is displaced downward by Δr withrespect to the rotation axis 6 a of the motor 6.

Next, a position correction system of the bare disk 102 will beexplained. To the lift base 3, a plate spring 65 as a biasing member isfixed. FIG. 27 is a perspective view of the mechanical base 1 and itincludes a general view of the plate spring 65. The plate spring 65 isfixed at one end 65 a to the lift base 3, while the other end 65 bfloats above the main face of the lift base 3.

As shown in FIG. 26A, a correction lever 63 is attached to the tray 50,and the correction lever can rotate about the rotation axis 64. In FIG.26A, the tip 65 b of the plate spring 65 and the correction lever 63 arepositioned to correspond to each other. With the lift base 3 beingdisplaced to approach the bare disk 102, the plate spring 65 presses thecorrection lever 63 to rotate. That is, the plate spring 65 presses thecorrection lever 63 so as to shorten the distance to the tray 60 on onehand, the plate spring 65 presses the correction lever 63 on the otherhand due to the resilience generated simultaneously. As a result of therotation of the correction lever 63, the bare disk 102 is pressedupward.

In FIG. 26B, the position of the bare disk 102 has been corrected by therotation of the correction lever 63, and thus the position of the centeraxis 102 b of the bare disk 102 matches with the position of therotation axis 6 a of the motor 6. Since the bare disk 102 rises furtherin comparison with the case of FIG. 26A, the surface of the bare disk102 does not overlap with the disk guide 61. At this time, however, thedamper 10 containing a magnet lowers to the position of the bare disk102. That is, an attraction force acts between the damper 10 and themotor 6, and moreover, the center cone 6 b of the motor 6 is positionedto be inserted into a hole formed at the center of the bare disk 102.Due to this configuration, the bare disk 102 will not be disengaged fromthe tray 60.

FIG. 28 is an exploded view of a part in the vicinity the correctionlever 63 in the state of FIG. 26B. The correction lever 63 is positionedat the notch of the disk guide 61, pressing the peripheral side face ofthe bare disk 102.

FIG. 26C is a cross-sectional view showing that the lift base 3 risesfurther in comparison with the state in FIG. 26B and that the bare disk102 is in a loading state. The hole at the center of the bare disk 102engages with the center cone 6 b of the motor 6, and thus the bare disk102 engages with a turn table 6 c. Thereby, the bare disk 102 is helddue to an attraction force generated between the motor 6 and themagnet-containing damper 10. In this state, the bare disk 102 can berotated for recording and reproduction.

The above description is about the configuration for vertical placing ofa small bare disk 102. In this embodiment, the basic system andoperations of the disk guide 61 are substantially the same as those ofthe disk guide 8 described in the previous embodiment. Similar to theprevious cases, a large bare disk can be placed vertically for loading.In this case, there will be no objects to be pressed by the correctionlever 63. However, there is no substantial difference from the case ofvertically placing a small bare disk, when considering the correctionlever 63 rotates due to the displacement as the lift base 3 approachesthe bare disk 102.

In this embodiment, the position and the shape of the correction lever63 are adjusted so that the correction lever 63 will not push a largebare disk out even when the correction lever 63 rotates. When theloading is completed as shown in FIG. 26C, resilience of the compressedplate spring 65 is applied to the correction lever 63. However, sincethe correction lever 63 is contacted with the tray 60 so as to stop therotation and the movement, further rotation will not occur in comparisonwith the state of FIG. 26C.

Without being limited to the vertical placing of the small bare disk102, the disk can be placed horizontally for loading. In such a case, asmentioned in the first embodiment, the disk guide 61 is located at thefirst position (FIG. 7B) where it is locked by a locking system andlimited in its upward displacement.

In this case, the position of the internal circumferential side face 61b of the disk guide 61 will match substantially with the position of theperipheral face of the bare disk 102 in the vertical direction. Thereby,the position of the bare disk 102 in the main face direction will berestricted by the internal circumferential side face 61 b of the diskguide 61. In this configuration, as shown in FIG. 25, the part of themain face of the bare disk 102 will not overlap with the disk guide 61.Accordingly, in a case of placing the bare disk 102 horizontally, it ispossible to prevent the bare disk 102 from slipping below the disk guide61 and making it difficult to take out the bare disk 102.

This embodiment refers to an example of recording and reproducing twokinds of bare disks different from each other in the outer diameter. Theconfiguration can correspond to bare disks of three kinds or moredifferent in the outer diameter. For example, between the wall faces 62and 61 a, the disk guide 61 is provided with a sidewall (a sidewall withwhich the disk outer peripheral face will be in contact by its ownweight) corresponding to the wall face 62, and an extending portion (apart overlapping with a part of the disk and prevents dropping of thedisk) corresponding to the vicinity of the wall face 61 b, and furtheradding structures corresponding to the correction lever 63 and the platespring 65, so as to correspond to three kinds of bare disks different inthe outer diameter.

A sidewall to be newly added can be formed, for example, as a stepformed on the disk guide 61. An extending portion to be newly added canbe formed integrally with the step on a part extending toward the centerof the disk with respect to the step. By adding the structures in thismanner, it is possible to correspond to four or more kinds of bare disksdifferent in the outer diameter.

(Ninth Embodiment)

A ninth embodiment relates to a pressing means. FIGS. 29 and 30 showpressing operations. FIG. 23 shows a disk in conveyance beforecompletion of loading. FIG. 24 shows a disk in conveyance aftercompletion of loading. FIG. 29A is a perspective view showing arelationship between a top plate 23 and a slider 22 as a damper holder.Though the slider 22 is substantially the same as the above-mentionedslider 9 in the basic configuration and actions, unlike the slider 9,the slider 22 has engaging portions 22 b as engaging means formedintegrally on the both sides of the thick part 22 a. Furthermore,pressing levers 24 are attached to the both sides of the top plate 23.Each pressing element 24 comprises a plate 24 a and a pressing portion24 b formed integrally, and it is rotatable about a rotation center 25.

A compression spring 26 (FIG. 30B) is arranged between the bottom faceof the plate 24 a and the top plate 4. In the state of FIG. 30B, i.e.,subsequent to the completion of loading, the pressing lever 24 is in anunloaded state, and resilience of the compression spring 26 is appliedto the pressing lever 24 so as to rotate in a direction identified withan arrow ‘j’.

The following is specific description about operations to completion ofloading. In FIG. 29A, a part of a thick part 22 a of the slider 22 isinserted into the gap between the upper and lower flanges of the clamper10. FIG. 29A corresponds to FIG. 16B, and the clamper 10 is raisedupward. In this state, the engaging portion 22 b presses the plate 24 a.

That is, the engaging portion 22 b applies a force (a force to rotate inthe ‘i’ direction) in a direction to compress the compression spring 26,against the resilience of the compression spring 26. In this state, thepressing member 24 b is displaced upwards, and thus the pressing portion24 b does not press the tray 2.

FIGS. 30A and 30B show a state in which the loading is completed. FIG.30A is a perspective view showing a relationship between the top plate23 and the slider 22. In this drawing, the engagement between the thickpart 22 a of the slider 22 and the gap of the upper and lower flanges ofthe damper 10 is released. FIG. 30A corresponds to FIG. 16C, and theclamper 10 lowers. In this state, the engagement of the engaging portion22 b with the plate 24 a is also released.

Thereby, the pressing lever 24 is in an unloaded state. The pressinglever 24 is applied with resilience of the compression spring 26 in adirection for rotating in the ‘j’ direction, and thus the tray 2 ispressed by the pressing portion 24 b. In this state, as described indetailed below, the tray 2 is mounted on the lift base 3, and thus thetray 2 is held between the lift base 3 and the top plate 23 via thepressing element 24 and the compression spring 26.

The above description refers to an example of mounting a bare disk onthe tray 2. When mounting a cartridge on the tray 2 as shown in FIG.30B, the tray 2 is pressed by the pressing portion 24 b, and thepressing portion 24 b integrated into the plate 24 a presses thecartridge. Therefore, the cartridge will be held securely on the tray 2.

(Tenth Embodiment)

When the tray is being pressed as shown in FIG. 30B, the tray 2 isdisengaged from the mechanical base 1. An object of this embodiment isdownsizing of the entire apparatus by using this configuration. Specificexplanation will follow by referring to FIGS. 31A–31D. FIGS. 31A–31D isa schematic view showing main components of the apparatus. A comparativeexample will be explained first by referring to FIGS. 31C and 31D.

FIG. 31C shows a state before completion of loading. A tray 42 is movingin the ‘k’ direction. During this movement, the bottom face of the tray42 slides on a rail 45 formed on the inner wall face of a mechanicalbase 40. On the mechanical base 40, a lift base 41 and the tray 42 areloaded. FIG. 31D shows a state after completion of loading. Themechanical base 40 is attached to a case 43 via a damper 44. Thereby,external shock the mechanical base 4 receives is damped by the damper 44and absorbed. In this configuration, a buffer space is necessary betweenthe outer wall of the mechanical base 40 and the inner wall of the case43, and thereby the apparatus will be upsized.

Next, this embodiment will be described below by referring to FIGS. 31Aand 31B. The configurations in FIGS. 31A and 31B as schematic views arenot different particularly from those in the previous embodiments. FIG.21 can be referred to for the internal configuration of the mechanicalbase 1 and the configuration of the tray 2, and FIGS. 29 and 30 can bereferred to for the configurations of the top plate 23. For this reason,the marks of the respective components are common to those in thedrawings for the previous embodiments.

FIG. 31A shows a state before completion of loading. The tray 2 ismoving in the ‘k’ direction, and during this movement, the bottom faceof the tray 2 slides on the rail 27 as a part-to-be-engaged formed onthe inner wall face of the mechanical base 1. Here, the rail 27 has arecess 27 b positioned below with respect to the standard face 27 a anda convex 27 c positioned above with respect to the standard face 27 a.The bottom face of the tray 2 has a convex 2 n positioned below withrespect to the standard face 2 m and a recess 2 p positioned above withrespect to the standard face 2 m.

In FIG. 31A, the convex 2 n of the tray 2 slides on the standard face 27a of the rail 27, and the standard face 2 m of the bottom face of thetray 2 slides on the convex 27 c of the rail 27, so that the tray 2 ismoving in the ‘k’ direction.

FIG. 31B shows a state in which the loading is completed. In this state,the convex 2 n of the tray 2 is disengaged from the standard face 27 aof the rail 27, and similarly, the standard face 2 m of the tray 2 isdisengaged from the convex 27 c of the rail 27. Thereby, the tray 2 isdisengaged from the rail, so that it is mounted on the lift base 3, andalso held via the compression spring 26 on the top plate 23 integratedwith the mechanical base 1.

Here, the lift base 3 is attached to the mechanical base 1 via a damper5 as a means for damping shock and oscillation, and the tray 2 isintegrated with the lift base 3. Therefore, external shock will beapplied simultaneously to the tray 2 and the lift base 1, and damped atthe damper 5. On the other hand, since the tray 2 is held onto the topplate 23 via the pressing element 24 and the compression spring 26 asdescribed above, the compression spring 26 acts to absorb the externalshock.

In a configuration of providing to the exterior of the tray 2 a systemsuch as a lever or a cam for allowing the shutter 101 a to be in an openstate, the mechanical base will be subjected to a large force to closethe shutter 101 a. For this reason, it has been impossible to configurean element to provide a buffer effect between the mechanical base and acartridge. In this embodiment, a force to stop the shutter 101 a in anopen state is applied by the tray 2 itself including the opener 13, andthe force is applied by the tray 2 exclusively as mentioned in thefourth embodiment. Therefore, in this embodiment, an element forobtaining a buffer effect can be provided inside the mechanical base 1.

As described above, since external shock can be damped inside themechanical base 1 according to the present invention, there is no needfor providing a separate buffer space on the periphery of the mechanicalbase 1, resulting in downsizing of the apparatus.

Any disks can be used in this embodiment as long as the disks havecentral holes. The examples include DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, DVD-VIDEO, DVD-R,CD-AUDIO, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, PD, MO, and MD. A cartridge not housing adisk is acceptable. For example, a disk housed in a DVD-RAM cartridgecan be eliminated.

As described above, an apparatus according to the present invention canbe downsized by effectively using spaces inside the apparatus. Theapparatus can be downsized also by a configuration for damping externalshock inside the mechanical base.

Since a disk guide of the present invention will not protrude at thelower part of the tray, the apparatus can be downsized and correspond toboth the vertical and horizontal placing of a disk.

The invention may be embodied in other forms without departing from thespirit or essential characteristics thereof. The embodiments disclosedin this application are to be considered in all respects as illustrativeand not limiting. The scope of the invention is indicated by theappended claims rather than by the foregoing description, all changesthat come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims areintended to be embraced therein.

1. A disk apparatus comprising a tray for mounting a disk having aninformation layer and a position controller for controlling the positionof the disk; the position controller comprising a wall face forcontrolling the position of the disk in a main face direction, arotation member having a rotational axis arranged at a position indentedfrom the main face of the tray and extending in a substantial radialdirection of the disk mounted on the tray, a plurality of elementsconnected via the rotation member, and a biasing member for applying aforce to the plural elements in a direction for floating the disk fromthe tray main face; the position controller further comprises anextending portion, the extending portion extends toward the center ofthe disk mounted on the tray main face with respect to the wall face,and the extending portion overlaps a part of the main face of the diskin a state in which the disk is in contact with the wall face.
 2. Thedisk apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the disk is mountedhorizontally on the tray, the position controller is allowed to be setso that the position of a side face of the extending portion matchessubstantially with the position of a peripheral face of the disk in thevertical direction, the side face of the extending portion is positionedto control the position of the disk in the main face direction; and thewall face is positioned for controlling the position of the disk in themain face direction in a state in which the position controller isdisplaced in a direction to float from the tray main face due to a forceapplied by the biasing member.
 3. The disk apparatus according to claim1, further comprising a correction lever for correcting the position ofthe disk; the correction lever is interlocked with a conveyanceoperation of the tray and protrudes toward the tray main face, andcorrects the position of the disk in the plan direction of the tray mainface while being in contact with the peripheral face of the disk; andwhen the cartridge housing a disk is mounted on the tray, protrusion ofthe correction lever toward the tray main face stops.
 4. A diskapparatus comprising a tray for mounting plural kinds of disks havinginformation layers and different from each other in outer diameter, anda position controller for controlling the positions of the disks; theposition controller comprising a first wall face for controlling theposition of a first disk in a main face direction, a rotation memberhaving a rotational axis arranged at a position indented from the mainface of the tray and extending in the substantial radial direction ofthe first disk mounted on the tray, a plurality of elements connectedvia the rotation member, and a biasing member for applying a force tothe plural elements in a direction for floating the first disk from thetray main face; the tray comprises a second wall face for controllingthe position of a second disk in the main face direction, where thesecond disk is smaller than the first disk in the outer diameter; andthe position controller extends toward the center of the second diskmounted on the tray main face with respect to the second wall face, anda part of the position controller and a part of the main face of thesecond disk overlap each other in a state in which the second disk is incontact with the second wall face.
 5. The disk apparatus according toclaim 4, wherein when the second disk is mounted horizontally on thetray, the position controller is allowed to be set so that the positionof an internal circumferential side face of the position controllermatches substantially with the peripheral face of the second disk in thevertical direction, and the internal circumferential side face ispositioned to control the position of the second disk in the main facedirection.
 6. The disk apparatus according to claim 4, furthercomprising a lifting member for engaging, by a raising/loweringoperation of a base on which a motor for rotating the plural kinds ofdisks is mounted, the plural kinds of disks and a turn table provided tothe motor, and also a correction lever for correcting the position ofthe second disk; the correction lever being interlocked with at leasteither the raising/lowering operation or the conveyance operation of thetray, and correcting the position of the second disk in the plandirection of the tray main face while being in contact with theperipheral face of the second disk.